Nick Heidfeld jumped out of his burning Renault just in time in Hungary as the car exploded moments later, injuring a marshal.
Heidfeld was in the midst of a disappointing Sunday afternoon, lapping outside the points, when he came in for his second pit stop to change tyres.
However, as he left the pits, there was smoke coming from the left side of his R31.
With it soon becoming apparent that the smoke was caused by a fire - and not a small one - Heidfeld parked his car on the side of the track just outside the pits and jumped out as quickly as possible.
Marshals arrived at the scene with a fire extinguisher to put the flames out, however, one of them was injured when the left side of the car seemed to explode.
"The pit stop took longer than it should have which is why something must have overheated," Heidfeld explained to the BBC.
"My first thought when I saw a little bit of smoke was 'let's go, maybe the wind will put it out' as that's what has happened before.
"This time the smoke kept coming and then I saw the fire coming quite close so I jumped out.
"Afterwards there was a small explosion which I've not seen before on an F1 car."
Renault have yet to confirm the cause of the fire or the explosion while we are still awaiting word on the marshal, who was seen limping away from the scene.
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